SAN DIEGO -- San Diego (12-8, 6-3) survived its third consecutive close contest in West Coast Conference play, beating San Francisco (7-14, 0-9) 54-50 at home on Saturday afternoon. The Toreros hit 8-of-19 attempts from beyond the arc, shooting 42.1% from deep.
 
The Toreros had three players score in double figures, led by Madison Pollock, who put together her second double-double of the week with 13 points and 10 rebounds. This marks the second time this season the senior guard has recorded back-to-back double-double efforts. Myah Pace tacked on 13 points, and Erica Martinsen had a breakout performance with 11 points off of the bench.
 
Pollock pulled down four offensive rebounds to pace San Diego's offense that racked up second chance opportunities, grabbing 15 boards and turning them into 17 second chance points.
 
The San Diego defense held San Francisco shooters to just 39.2% from the field, including 15.4% from three-point range. The Dons didn't get many second chance opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only nine offensive rebounds for eight points.
 
The Toreros started off strong and came out on top after back-and-forth action in the first, putting together an 11-10 lead heading into the second quarter. San Diego relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down two shots to account for six of its 11 points.
 
From there, the game would continue to shift between San Diego and USF as the contest saw 10 lead changes and 10 tie-ups before the final buzzer.
 
San Diego used the second period to increase their lead to three to create a 29-26 edge at the half. The Toreros continued to shoot well from beyond the arc, knocking down three three-point shots to account for nine of its 18 points.
 
Pace was perfect from three in the second knocking down both opportunities from deep. The junior guard and Martinsen accounted for four of San Diego's five made threes in the first half.
 
After intermission, the Toreros and the Dons kept it close as USF pulled within one twice in the third before Pace hit another three pointer with under two minutes to go to grow San Diego's lead to four. The three-point shot continued to be key for the Toreros as it accounted for six of 11 total points in the quarter.
 
San Diego entered the fourth with a five-point edge, 45-40, but the Dons tied it up with a layup from Leilah Vigil with five minutes to go in the period. Martinsen responded, picking up a lost ball by the Dons to hit a midrange jumper to put the Toreros up by one.
Vigil came through again for USF with under two to go, then Pollock executed in the paint to grab an offensive rebound drawing an and-one opportunity to grow San Diego's lead to two.
 
Senior Leticia Soares secured the victory with a bucket in the paint off an offensive rebound with one-minute remaining. The Toreros then held on for the victory as they took advantage of three San Francisco turnovers in the quarter, scoring four points off of those takeaways.
 
The Toreros are back in action on Thursday, when they'll travel to Spokane to take on No. 13 Gonzaga who currently sits in first in the WCC.
 
This article was created with the help of technology provided by Data Skrive.